Maple syrup farming a sweet way to make a living

Friday

Mar 28, 2008 at 12:01 AMMar 28, 2008 at 7:31 PM

The best maple product out there is maple syrup. That’s according to Chuck Winship, owner of Sugarbush Hollow in Springwater, whose sugarhouse is part of the New York State Maple Producers Association’s Maple Weekend this weekend.

Rob Montana

The best maple product out there is maple syrup.

That’s according to Chuck Winship, owner of Sugarbush Hollow in Springwater, whose sugarhouse is part of the New York State Maple Producers Association’s Maple Weekend this weekend.

Sugarhouses throughout the state will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and Winship said his place will follow that by being open the same hours the following weekend as well.

“This year, so far, we’ve already made as much syrup as last year," Winship said.

“It’s been a good year for everybody because it’s staying colder longer,” he said. “The syrup we’re producing now is that sweet taste as it was when we were kids.”

Sugarbush Hollow will be offering pancakes, and visitors will be able to take hikes into the sugarbush, Winship said, where they will be able to check out the microclimates found in the woods. There also will be examples given of how sugar is boiled down to make syrup — both old and new ways.

“We’ll demonstrate how the Native Americans and earliest settlers boiled syrup, and we’ll show them today’s process,” Winship said. “We’ll also be doing sugar on the snow.

“It’s just general fun.”

This is the sixth year Winship’s sugarhouse will take part in the Maple Weekend events, and he said it’s a great thing to do.

“The maple syrup is the first crop of the new year,” he said. “It’s also a rite of passage of going from winter to spring.

“It’s a way for people who have cooped up inside all winter to get out and trudge through the woods,” Winship said. “They also go through the whole nostalgia thing, because maple syrup tends to be nostalgic.”

People seem to enjoy touring his facility and learning the process, Winship said, and it can be a family-bonding experience.

“It’s adults showing kids the whole process of making maple syrup — from tree to mouth,” he said. “That’s the fun part.“

More information may be found about the tour or area maple producers at the New York State Maple Producers Association Web site at www.nysmaple.com.